You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under
chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 140993.

The Denton County Road Utility District (the "district"), which you represent, received a
request for fifty categories of information related to the creation and activities of the district.
You have provided a representative sample of the responsive information.(1) You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.103 of the Government Code. You also contend that responsive information may be withheld pursuant to section 552.232 of the Government Code. We have considered your claims and reviewed the submitted information.

Section 552.103(a), the "litigation exception," excepts from disclosure information relating
to litigation to which the state or a political subdivision is or may be a party. To secure the
protection of section 552.103(a), a governmental body has the burden of providing relevant
facts and documents to show that (1) litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated, and (2)
the information at issue is related to that litigation. University of Tex. Law Sch. v. Texas
Legal Found., 958 S.W.2d 479, 481 (Tex. App.--Austin 1997, no pet.); Heard v. Houston
Post Co., 684 S.W.2d 210 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 1984, writ ref'd n.r.e.). Further,
to be excepted under section 552.103, the information must relate to litigation that is pending
or reasonably anticipated on the date that the information was requested. Gov't Code
§ 552.103(c).

You represent that the district is a party in a lawsuit filed in the 298th Judicial District Court of Dallas County. You have provided pleadings and requests for discovery in this pending
lawsuit. From our review of these materials we conclude that litigation was pending at the
time that the request for information was received, and that the responsive information
relates to that pending litigation. Therefore, you may withhold responsive information under
section 552.103 of the Government Code, except as noted below.

You indicate that much of the responsive information has been provided to the requestor in
the course of the pending litigation. Absent special circumstances, where the opposing party
to the anticipated litigation has had access to the records at issue, no section 552.103(a)
interest exists with respect to that information. Open Records Decision Nos. 349 (1982), 320
(1982). If the opposing parties in the anticipated litigation have seen or had access to any of
the information in these records, there is no justification for now withholding that
information from the requestor pursuant to section 552.103(a). However, you contend that
"special circumstances" permit section 552.103 to except information which the opposing
party in litigation has had access to in the discovery process, via application section 552.232
of the Government Code. This section provides:

(a) A governmental body that determines that a requestor has made
a request for information for which the governmental body has
previously furnished copies to the requestor or made copies available
to the requestor on payment of applicable charges under Subchapter
F, shall respond to the request, in relation to the information for
which copies have been already furnished or made available, in
accordance with this section, except that:

(1) this section does not prohibit the governmental
body from furnishing the information or making the
information available to the requestor again in accordance
with the request; and

(2) the governmental body is not required to comply
with this section in relation to information that the
governmental body simply furnishes or makes available to the
requestor again in accordance with the request.

(b) The governmental body shall certify to the requestor that copies
of all or part of the requested information, as applicable, were
previously furnished to the requestor or made available to the
requestor on payment of applicable charges under Subchapter F. The
certification must include:

(1) a description of the information for which copies
have been previously furnished or made available to the
requestor;

(2) the date that the governmental body received the
requestor's original request for that information;

(3) the date that the governmental body previously
furnished copies of or made available copies of the
information to the requestor;

(4) a certification that no subsequent additions,
deletions, or corrections have been made to that information;
and

(5) the name, title, and signature of the officer for
public information or the officer's agent making the
certification.

(c) A charge may not be imposed for making and furnishing a
certification required under Subsection (b).

(d) This section does not apply to information for which the
governmental body has not previously furnished copies to the
requestor or made copies available to the requestor on payment of
applicable charges under Subchapter F. A request by the requestor
for information for which copies have not previously been furnished
or made available to the requestor, including information for which
copies were not furnished or made available because the information
was redacted from other information that was furnished or made
available or because the information did not yet exist at the time of an
earlier request, shall be treated in the same manner as any other
request for information under this chapter.

This section allows a governmental body to certify that records have previously been
provided to a requestor, rather than make those same records available to the same requestor
in response to subsequent requests. We are of the opinion that this section applies only
where a requestor has made previous requests for information under the Public Information
Act. Here, information was previously provided in the course of discovery in litigation. Such
production is not in response to a request made under the Public Information Act. As there
is no indication that information was previously provided to this requestor in response to a

request made under the Public Information Act, we conclude that section 552.232 does not
apply to the information responsive to the current request. Therefore, information to which
the adverse party in litigation has had access must be released to the requestor.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the
facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous
determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited
from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the
governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by
filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the
full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days.
Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the
governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general
have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id.
§ 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested
information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the
statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the
governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public
records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records
will be provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the
governmental body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body
fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor
should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at
877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney.
Id. § 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the
requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental
body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ).

Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for
costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be
sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or
complaints about over-charging must be directed to the General Services Commission
at 512/475-2497.

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments
about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for
contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days
of the date of this ruling.

1. We assume that the "representative sample" of records submitted to this office is truly representative of the requested records as a whole. See Open Records Decision Nos. 499 (1988), 497 (1988). This open records letter does not reach, and therefore does not authorize the withholding of, any other requested records to the extent that those records contain substantially different types of information than that submitted to this office.